Kaleidoscope
by Pastel Sky
Summary: Every moment is precious. /Naruto, Hinata./


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**Kaleidoscope**

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_Naruto __© Masashi Kishimoto_

_Naruto x Hinata_

* * *

–_Every moment is precious. /Naruto, Hinata./_

* * *

Hinata finds herself basking in sunshine.

Her cheeks are flushed from the heat, but she really enjoys the warmth that touches her fair skin. She thinks the sun is quite generous today; its light reaching the tips of green grasses and creeps through every crevice that the trees offer. She loves how everything seems a lot more vivid in colours, then—the green is greener, the blue is bluer, and the bright is brighter.

It reminds her, in a way, of _him_.

(—and his golden smile and golden heart and beautiful, _beautiful_ blue eyes that glimmer with life.)

She rests her head against one of the wooden pillars in the training ground—the very same place where she met Naruto before his match with Neji. Her mind plays back the day when she told him how she feels and reminded him about his true strength for the first time.

_I really like a person like you!_

Her lips curl up into the softest of smiles.

The war is over now. Everything seems to be at peace once again. There are still many things that need to recover or be recovered, people included, but as long as everybody works together in rebuilding what was damaged, she thinks they would be better. Lost lives won't be able to come back, she knows. However, there are still chances for the wounded to be healed, for scars to fade, or for the broken to be mended. Even though the peace at the moment might be fleeting or brief, Hinata feels relieved, nonetheless, however small the amount compared to the grief the war had brought.

She thinks _he_ is part of the reason for everyone's peace. He is already a hero, she realizes, in people's hearts.

_He has always been._

Her feelings towards him have never changed, never wavered, never gone. They continue to grow. And after Pain came to Konoha, after she stated her heart's thoughts in a confession, he gave her a _promise_. She could still remember his voice—his words were loud and clear, echoing in her soul. She believes him, that he will give her the answer when the time comes, because he never goes back on his words.

So from that day on, she _waits_.

Deep in thoughts, the girl closes her eyes, barely noticing the gentle rustling sound behind or the ragged breathing of a person.

.

.

"…Hinata?"

.

.

For a while there, she thinks she's hallucinating.

But when she opens her eyes and sees orange and blue and feels the warmth she is so familiar with, she knows it is _him_—radiant, kind, real.

"N-Naruto-_kun_?"

He appears breathless, but he greets her with a wide smile.

"Thank goodness I found you," he says. "I've been looking everywhere."

Hinata is surprised. She is curious as to why he searched for her, particularly, but the guilt that she feels for letting him tire himself is growing even stronger. He looks like he is having some trouble catching his breath, which makes her wonder if it's something urgent. "Is… Is there anything I can do for you?"

But he says nothing to answer her question. Instead, he plops down beside her—unaware of the increasing heat on her cheeks—before asking gingerly if she doesn't mind him joining her. She tells him that it is perfectly okay and that he is not disturbing her at all. In all honesty, she feels really delighted to simply be able to see him.

There is a small silence between them, shifting under the breeze. She tries to think of the proper words to say (how are you, Naruto-_kun_? It's a nice weather, isn't it?), but he beats her to it as he closes his eyes.

"This place brings back memories."

Hinata turns her head to look at him and sees the gentle look on his features.

"This is the place where I became Genin, you know?" he continues, although he probably knows that she already knows about that. "This is also the place where I struck my first shuriken, did my first 100 push-ups (_hell yeah!_), delivered my first 50 punches, and," he looks at her, smiling, "encouraged by _you_."

Her cheeks redden.

"I…" she utters softly, smiling at the memory. "I was only… saying the truth."

Naruto blinks. He seems to be slightly embarrassed, she thinks, because he is scratching his head while his cheeks turn a little bit rosy. She thinks it's pretty rare to see him embarrassed like this, and she has to hold back the smile that threatens to grow even wider. But he chuckles, then he looks at her with specks of sunshine in his eyes.

"I'm glad that I met you."

(_Thump._)

Hinata freezes, feeling her heartbeat follow a fast rhythm, but the smile that tugs the corners of her lips is irresistible. So she quickly turns her head away to hide her deep blush—she is flustered, of course, yet _happy_.

"S-So, um… What brings you here, Naruto-_kun_?"

To her surprise, his grin slowly fades. His expression seems a bit pensive for a moment, borderline serious, and she simply cannot figure out why.

"Well, I…" he finally says, uncharacteristically softer than usual. "I'm here to... to fulfill my promise."

She looks at him in an instant; startled, hesitant, nervous, but _hopeful_.

Naruto peers at her tentatively. She doesn't know what to say, doesn't know what to think, especially not when he gives her a gentle, _gentle_ smile and his eyes—oh, _his_ _eyes_. She is completely out of words and she fears that her heart might bleed from pounding far too fast as it leaps, breaks, mends, then—

He holds her hand.

She feels his skin against hers when their palms collide. She cherishes the warmth that wraps her fingertips, the tingles that crawls upon her whole body.

"Sorry, I made you wait."

Naruto squeezes her petite hand slightly.

(_Thump._)

He looks away, hiding his face behind his free hand. She notices how his features are just as flustered as hers, so she thinks he might be just as embarrassed (which she finds really, really _cute_.)

Naruto mumbles incoherent words and she can barely hear his voice, but she figures he is saying something along the lines of: "_I don't know how to deal with this kind of thing._"

He spares her a glance as he peeks from the cover of his arm.

"My face's red from the heat."

.

.

Hinata blinks for a few times.

And she laughs with all the happiness in her heart.

* * *

_"Can I walk with you?"_

_She looks at him, stars in her eyes and roses on her cheeks._

_"...Yes."_

_(Forever.)_

* * *

On their 57th date together (she always counts), the sky is covered with clouds. It is starting to rain even though the weather was pretty nice just moments ago, but she doesn't really mind because he is holding her hand and pulls her closer to him whenever he could as they look for a temporary shelter.

"_Why_ does it have to rain at a time like this?" he protests to no one in particular when they finally found a huge tree and stand underneath its leaves. "I'm so hungry. Ichiraku better not close!"

He sulks, pouting, and Hinata softly laughs at his funny face.

"I hope it lets up soon," she says with a smile. Naruto smiles back as he agrees with her, and she thinks under the canopy of pale green his eyes look all the more blue.

His smile grows just a bit bigger, breaking into a toothy grin when he takes a step forward. He turns to look at her with a gleaming face, and she doesn't have a clue as to why his eyes twinkle or why he gently, carefully pulls her hand which makes her also take a small stride. She doesn't know why he looks up, letting a stray raindrop that slips through the little clefts between the leaves lands on his forehead.

"Hinata," he utters. "Do you want to have some fun?"

Before she could process what he means by that, she is suddenly pulled away from their current shelter and into the rain.

She feels his grip loosened, and watches as Naruto (_her Naruto_, she tells herself happily with tingles all over her heart) drenches himself amidst the downpour, drips of water rapidly falling down the tips of his hair. But he laughs and twirls and jumps like it doesn't matter, stepping on puddles and spraying water at every direction.

"Naruto-_kun_, you'll catch a cold!" she chides.

He replies her worried look with a big grin. "Then we'd catch the cold _together_," he says, and she thinks it makes sense, somehow, because she is also standing under the rain with her clothes soaked just the same. Still, she wanted to object, but he catches her hands in a swift motion. It doesn't help that he is also peering at her intently with his face standing so, so _close_—

"Dance with me."

And he moves her along before she even knows it.

She can hear his laugh loud and clear even in the middle of the rain's harsh sounds. She is taken into his rhythm, again, her thoughts completely dissolved in everything about him.

He takes her into a different world, _always_ does. He washes away her worries in mere seconds when she herself can't. He fills her up with courage and makes her believe, like she can really stand up strong or do anything she wants.

He makes her feel the happiest.

Sometimes, she likes to imagine being with him for all her life; for her to have him as the first person she sees in her mornings, to have those dazzling, enchanting pair of eyes accompany her 365 days times infinity. She wants to build a small-but-comfortable house, one day, and have lots of beautiful children to tell stories to—she wants to watch shooting stars, to take walks in the park, to laugh, to live, to grow old _together with him_.

She _loves_ him.

Then in the middle of falling crystal drops, the center of the world, she blurts out her thoughts through shivering lips almost accidentally—her words tumbling, her voice uncharacteristically louder than usual:

.

.

"_P-Please marry me_, _Naruto-kun!"_

.

.

(_—step, step, stop._)

Naruto pauses, no longer moving around with the pitter-patter's rhythm, and looks at her with wide, vivid azure eyes that she has always _loved_.

She feels her heart pounding as she gasps for air, breathless. Her cheekbones are dusted with scarlet colours and there is this huge urge to simply cover her mouth and flee.

A part of her regrets her sudden (probably awkward) proposal, because what she said was too daring and _silly_ and it was anything but romantic, certainly not like how she had always imagined it to be. She is not even the one who is supposed to ask his hand in marriage—it should be the other way around, shouldn't it? The man proposing, not the_ girl_!

But the other part of her wants him to accept her deepest wishes, so it _hopes_.

Hinata is afraid but curious as she tries to read his seemingly startled expression, the silence becoming a tiny bit more unbearable every millisecond. He shifts his weight from one foot to the other, perhaps still trying to process her earlier statement, but his eyes never leave hers. She wonders if he feels uncomfortable, or angry, or embarrassed, or perhaps she should just take everything back and _leave_—

Then suddenly, he laughs a strident, unrestrained laughter that makes his nose crinkle and his whisker-marked cheeks flush.

Hinata can't help but feel a little embarrassed—well, _really_ embarrassed. Here she is, standing under the rain and soaked to the skin, shivering yet feeling a little warm from the rush of blood that runs through her veins.

"Hi—Hinata," Naruto mutters in between mirth. "You're really weird, you know?"

The girl feels a fleeting pang in her chest, a brief pinch on her heart. She should have expected this, she thinks, since her proposal was so sudden and had no preparations whatsoever. But he grins, which makes her question if he is really rejecting her (or maybe it's just his way of politely refusing, she figures).

Then slowly, he approaches her.

(_—step, step, stop._)

He closes their distance until he is only a hairsbreadth away. His lips are curled up in a big grin, his radiant eyes searching, shimmering; they are all that she can see under the grey-white sky. She feels flustered, baffled, and with Naruto, she begins to learn that she should always expect the unexpected, because his every action always manages to surprise her—

—like now, as he suddenly wraps his arms around her petite figure.

"Really," Naruto chuckles. He pulls her tighter into his arms as he whispers, affectionately, in her ears:

"You're the only weird person in this world that I would marry."

.

.

Hinata found herself lost, then, in this sort of indescribable _bliss_.

Through the relieved, happy tears on the corner of her eyes, she sees her world explode in bursts of kaleidoscope colours.

* * *

On their last date, it is raining sakura petals.

The trees are blooming, beautifully swaying and rustling from the touches of wind. There are a lot of people around her today—her dearest ones. But despite the joyful gazes and vivid surroundings, however full her little heart may be, at this moment she can see only him.

His whisker-marks are the slightest shade of crimson. The glowing smile upon his face and the sparkles in his eyes tells her that he is truly happy. She feels the warmth that his calloused hands emit collide against her own, which is comforting in a way since her heartbeat is almost erratic from the nervousness and sheer, pure _happiness_.

"I do."

He tells the world that she is his, and she feels her lips turn into the widest smile.

She looks at him with all the love she can give.

"I do."

_I do, I do, I do._

And she knows that their every moment is a treasure; a unique blend of a thousand colours that make an unforgettable journey. All the wait, the sorrow, the joy, the fun, the littlest bits of happiness—

_Everything is worth it_.

.

.

_Fin._

* * *

**_Author's Notes_**:

Hello there!

Thank you for taking your time reading the story, I hope you enjoy it. I wanted to write a story about how Naruto and Hinata's relationship progress, and I also wanted to write a scene where Hinata proposes. This story was intended to be sweet and full of love - I hope it did just that. ;v;

Please feel free to leave a review - any kind of comment is highly appreciated. (:

(On another note, can I just say how I love the RtN special chapter? /_squeee_. I can't wait for the movie!)


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